jennings



(No Model.) 8 Sheets- 8mm; 1.

S. A. JENNINGS.

OAR GONSTRUGTION.

' N0. 485,198. Patented NOV. 1, 1892.

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8"Sheets-'Slieet' 2. S. A. JENNINGS.

GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 485,198. Patented Nov.- 1, 1892.

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s. A. JENNINGS. GAR CONSTRUCTION.

Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

rm: NORRlS PETERS ca. Pno'rau'mm wAsHiuawm c J (No Model.) aSheets-8heet 5. S. A. JENNINGS.

GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 485,198. Patented Nov. 1, 1892 (No Model.) 1 8 Sheets-Sheet e. S. A.JENNINGS. GAR CONSTRUCTION.

No. 485,198. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

Z n7 M r I Z 4% y '(No Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 7.

S. A. JENNINGS.

I GAR CONSTRUCTION. No. 485,198. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

THE "cums runs co. PHOYKXLITHON WASHINGTON, n. c.

(No Model.) 8vSheets-Sheet 8.

S. A. JENNINGS. CAR CONSTRUCTION v Patented Nov. 1,1392.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN A. JENNINGS, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR S.

' KIRK, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,198, dated November1, 1892.

Application filed June 30, 1891. Serial No. 398.005. (No model.)

To whom it may concern: have devised a peculiar fastening for secur- Beit known that I, STEPHEN A. JENNINGS, ing the outside covering and thesheathing a citizen of the United States, residing at together at thetop of the car. This fasten- Evanston, in the county of Cook and Stateof ing consists of a split key, the stem of which 5 Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useis passed through apertures in the coveringful Improvements in Car Construction, of and sheathing and the endsseparated or which the following is a specification. spread so as tosecurely lock the two together My invention relates to certainimproveand thereby clamp the filling in place. The ments in carconstruction and may be emlower ends of the plates forming the walls 1oployed in the building of passenger, freight, are riveted to the flangesof the side sills, or street-railway cars; but is particularly therivet-holes being elongated so as to pro adapted to freight-cars, andhence I have vide for sufficient play to prevent sheaiing illustratedsuch a car in the accompanying of the fastenings and for the expansionand drawings. contraction of the metal. I employ longi- [5 Myimprovements relate to a novel contudinal ribs at about the location ofthe struction of the carbody. The sills are steel usual plates anddiagonal braces or struts, channel-beams, and the posts metaltubes, andwhich tie these plates to the floor-sills. The the covering andsheathing metal plates. roof-frame has also a tie-rod. The floor is Thesills are steel channel-beams presenting preferably made of metalplates. The draw- 2o outwardly, and the margins of the flanges of gearconsists of metal plates disposed edgethe beam are offset. Face-platesare secured wise beneath the floor, the forward ends of over the opensides of the sills and are rivthese plates projecting beyond the car endeted or bolted to the flanges of said sills. The and being turned out,so as to embrace the side and end sills are joined at the corners ofdead-wood. The forward ends of the draw- 25 the car, while theface-plates are unsevered gear plates are parallel to each other andsepaat the corners or without joints. In the prerated, so as to providebetween them a spring ferred construction I do not employ intermepocket,and their rear ends are spread and diate longitudinal sills, but insteadthereof I project diagonally until they meet the side use transversetie-rods and floor-beams, which sills, to which they are secured. Thedraw- 30 are preferably I or T beams having their gear plates arepreferably twisted toincrease heads riveted to the side sills, so as totie or their strength. Diagonal brace-rods support anchor themtogether'and prevent buckling the middles of the draw-gear platesagainst or bending under the shocks of service. The buckling. I havealso provided an inside or posts are formed by bending metal tubesintograin door of improved construction. This 35 an arch, the legs of whichform two posts, door is made of thin sheets of metal stayed atone oneither side of the car, while the middle intervals by longitudinalstrengthening-ribs of the arch forms a carling to support the andadapted to bend between said ribs. These roof. The ends of these postsproject bedoors have counterbalancing weights and neath the side sillsand are inturned so as to cords and are adapted to be shoved up in suitosecure a bearing for the posts on the lower able ways beneath the roof.The cords are sides of the sills and thereby anchor or sefastened at thebottom of the doors and the curely tie the frame together. The coveringweights move within the hollows of the tubuof the car is made of metalplates, which are lar posts forming the door-jambs. I have alsopreferably of such size as that a single secprovided an improved lockfor these doors. 5 45 tion will cover the side of the car from the Othernovel details of construction will be end to the door, the ends beingalso made hereinafter more fully described,and particufrom a singlesection and the roof from two larly pointed out in the claims. or moresections. The sheathing 0f the car In the accompanying drawings, Figure1 is is also of metal plates, and I employ a filling a side elevation ofthe car, the outer covering I00 50 of straw pulp or equivalent materialbetween being broken away at one end and the figure the outside coveringand the sheathing. I being partly in section through the drawgear. Fig.2 is a plan view with the roof broken away, the side walls in section,and the floor removed. Fig. 3 is an end elevation partly in section.Fig. 3 is a detail for the transom-fastening. Fig. 4 is an enlargedsectional detail through one of the side sills. Fig. 5 is a sectionaldetail of the end sill, showing the dead-wood in elevation and a part ofone of the draw-gear plates. Fig. 6 is a detail of one of the posts, theupper end of the brace or strut, and of the stiifening-plate applied tothe car-frame at its top. Fig. 7 is a sectional plan of the parts shownin Fig. 6, with the covering, sheathing, and filling added. Fig. 8 is aside elevation of one of the transverse floor-beams, showing the sidesills and face-plate in section. Fig. 9 is a similar view of a tie-rodfor the side sills at the rivets where the draw-gear plates areconnected to them. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the braces for thedraw-gear plates shown joined to the side sills. Figs. 11 and 12 aredetail views of the means for fastening the covering, sheathing, andfilling together. Fig. 13 is a detail view, in elevation, of the door,some of the parts showing by dotted lines. Fig. 14 is a sectionaldetailon the line 14 14 of Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectionaldetail of the roof, showing ways for the sliding door at the upper limitof its travel. Fig. 16 is an enlarged detail view of one of the cornersof the car, showing the face-plate continuous at the corner. Figs. 17and 18 are details showing the manner of connecting v the rear ends ofthe draw-gear plates to the sills. Fig. 19 is a detail plan view of theroof, showing the carling, separators, and roof tierod. Fig. 20 and 21are detail views of the grain-door lock, and Fig. 22 shows a blank fromwhich one of the transverse floor-beams are made.

In the drawings, 25 represents the side sills, which are steel channelbeams with their openings presenting outwardly and their flanges havingoffset margins 25, which form bolt-flanges. These side sills may each bemade from a single beam,and they arejoined at their ends to end sills26, which are of similar construction. At the junction of the side sillsand end sills at the corners of the car the offset margins 25 of theflanges are bent up from the body of the flange and are united at anangle of forty-five degrees.

27 represents a face-plate, which is fitted over the opening of thesills and the margins of which are bolted or riveted to the flanges 25of the sills. These face -plates are nnsevered at, the. corners ofthecar, the. joints being preferably made at the ends of the transom, asseen at 2'7 of Figs. 2 and 6.

28 represents the posts. These are made from metal tubes, which in afreight-car I prefer to have of three-inch diameter. The posts areformedby bending the tube into arched shape, the legs of the arch eachforming a post and the middleof the arch forming a carling 29. In orderto secure a proper connection between the lower ends of these posts andthe side sills I prefer to insert in the ends of such pipes or tubessolid steel-rods 30, of a diameter which will exactly fill the openingof the tubes, the rods being inserted while the metal is hot. The endsof the posts with the rods inserted are then placed in a suitable formand severed longitudinally a distance slightly greater than the width ofthe face-plates. The lower end of the post containing the remnant of therod is then inturned, as seen at 28, to adapt it to bear upon the loweredge of the face-plate and the flange of the sill. The posts are thensecured with the sill and faceplate by means of the through bolts orrivets 31. Below the roof-line the posts are strengthened by acontinuous rib or plate 32, the posts being preferably slottedtransversely for the passage of the plates, and keys 33 are applied oneach side of the posts so as to hold them against lateral movement.

34 represent diagonalstruts or braces which are secured at theirlowerends to the side sills and at their upper ends are halved into theplates 32, and then apertures are drilled at each edge of the strut andfilled with Babbitt metal 35,which,afterit cools, makes astrongand tightjoint between the ends of the struts and the posts and plate. Thecarlings are spaced by means of the tube-sections 36,whose ends arefitted to embrace the sides of the carlings, and a roof-tie rod 37passes through these separating-tubes and through apertures in thecarlings, one or both of its ends being provided with a nut whereby thewhole may be chorded up. The roof-structure is 'thus rigidly tiedtogether.

In the preferred construction I do not employ intermediate sills, butinstead thereof employ transverse floor-beams and tie-rods. In order toadapt the beams to receive and brace the draw-gear, two of them are ofspecial construction, and in order to securely tie the side sillstogether at the point where the rear ends of the draw-gear plates areconnected thereto, I'employ a special tie-rod.

38 represents the transverse floorbeams, which may be steel T- beams andhaving their heads bolted or riveted to the side sills of the car. Byreference to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings it will be seen that the websof these beams are cut away. The blank is shown in Fig. 22 and the partsto be removed are indicated at'38 and 38 A considerable saving ofmaterial and weight is thus effected and a beam is produced whichformswithin itself an efficient truss. The beam-is straight on its top to.receive the floor and the depending arms 38 form the lower chord of thetruss member, the upper chord members being secured with the upperflanges of the side sills and the lower members with the lower flangesthereof.

39 represents atie-rod having bifurcated ends which pass through theflanges of the side. sills and are fastened with a nut or by beingheaded over. These tie-rods are apin Fig. 9.

plied, as will be observed, at the junction of the draw-gear plates andthe side sills, and only two of them need be employed. Their purpose isto prevent buckling or bending of the side sills under shock or strain.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a special form of tie'beam, (marked 40,) which iscut away on its lower side and shouldered, as at 41,to provide sidebearings or stays for the draw-gear plates 42. These plates are disposededgewise, their forward ends being bent to embrace the dead-wood 43, asseen in Figs. 2 and 5. These plates are parallel to each other for asufficient distance to provide between them a spring-pocket, and theirrear ends are separated and project diagonally until they meet the sidesills. These extensions are preferably twisted, as seen at 42, and theends are ends lapping upon each other, as shown in Fig. 3. Theseoverlapped ends have a bearing upon the under sides of the side sillsand are secured thereto by means of U-bolts 47, the legs of which passthrough the lower flange of the side sill and through registeringapertures in the overlapped endsof the transom-plates and are secured bynuts. The

manner of fastening the transom ends to the side sills is illustrated indetail in Fig 3.

.no immediate sills are employed, I dispense As in the preferredconstruction of my car with the usual needle-beams and modify thebearings and braces for the body truss-rod 48 and its bearing 49. Thesetruss-rods extend to the ends of the car and pass through the lowerflange of the end sills and face-plates and have tightening-nuts or areriveted. They extend back alongside the sills and pass through keepers48*. Struts 50 rise from the lower end of the body truss-rod bearing andare connected to the lower sides of the side sills. These provideadequate bracing against longitudinal strain; and in order to preventlateral movement of the body truss-rods I employ the tie-rods 51, whichare joined to orintegrally formed with the supports 49, as seen Thesetie-rods have a free joint to permit of their connection with the sidesills. This construction, while equally efficient, is much more simplethan the common construction.

The outside covering is made from sheetmetal plates 52, and I prefer tohave the side plates of such size as to cover the car from the bottom tothe roof-line and from the end of the car to the door. The side and endplates are duplicated on the inside of the structure to provide asheathing, the intervening space being filled with straw pulp 52 orequivalent material. The ends of the car will each be made of a singlesheet of metal. The roof for convenience may be made in partsjoinedcentrally of the car, and the roof-sections are lapped down upon thesides and riveted thereto. The run-board is made of wood and secured tobrackets 53,the latter being secured to the carlings in any convenientmanner. The metal covering-plates are provided at their lowerextremities with elongated slots 54, through which rivets 54: pass, andthe rivets also pass through holes in a continuous strip 55 and throughthe flanges of the sills and face-plate. The elongated apertures allowfor contraction and expansion of the metal and for vibration of thecar-structure without injury to the rivets or plates. The root is madeof a single outside covering and joined to the sides and ends of the carby split pins 56, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The covering andsheathing plates are vertically flutedto adapt them to fit over theposts, so as to give the wall-coverings a bearing upon said posts, thusadding to the rigidity of the structure and also reducing the thicknessof the wall and economizing spacein the interior of the car.

The inner or grain door 57 is made from a single sheet of metal,preferably provided at intervals with stiffening or strengthening ribs57 secured horizontally to the inner face of the door. Secured to thelower corners of the door are weight-cords passing over pulleys 60 andprovided with the weights 61, saidweights moving in the hollow of theposts. These doors are sufliciently elastic to conform to the curvatureof the roof when not in use, the design being to elevate them by meansof the cords and weights to a position beneath the roof of the car, asclearly shown in Fig. 15.

Pivotally secured to the outer face of the door toward its lower edgeare locking-bars 62, having on their under side studs 63, which fit intosockets in the floor. The ends of these locking-bars in their lockedposition project through apertures 64 in the door-posts. The inner endsof these bars are upturned, as at 62, and above them are pivoted thegravitylatches 65. These latches are slotted horizontally, as shown inthe sectionaldetail of Fig. 21. The double T- headed key 66 couplesthese gravity-latches together andin its normal position-that is, whenthe dooris lockedconfines their ofiset ends upon the upturned ends 62 ofthe pivoted locking-bars. The outer edges of the latches are cut awaynear their pivots, as shown at 65 in Fig. 13, and when the locking-keyis raised it will rest in said cut-away portions when the lower ends ofthe latches are separated, soasto clear the bars are thus unlocked, thedoor mayberaised,

and in this movement the .studs63 will be lifted out of their socketsand the outer ends of the locking-bars 62 will be withdrawn from theapertures 64: in the door-posts, the bars swinging on their pivotssufficiently to permit this clearance. 'When the door is lowered toplace, the outer ends of the locking bars will enter the apertures 64in. the doorposts and they will thus be straightened again, the studs 63entering their sockets. The key will drop down and the latches willswing into a vertical position, so as to lock the bolts. This device notonly serves as a lock, which in its principal action is automatic, butit also serves as a strengthening-bar for the lower edge of the door.

Suitable hoods 68 are provided over the outer doors 69, and these doorsmaybe made to slide upon tracks in the usual way. The roof is providedwith scuttles 70, and one or both ends of the car with a door 71.

It is obvious that many of the features hereinabove described may bemodified and that some of them may be employed in a car in which othersare omitted; but it is my purpose to build car-bodies almost entirelyfrom metal, as I thereby obtain a car having great carrying capacity,weighing much less than the ordinary wooden car, and which will muchbetter withstand the shocks of service, as well as being practicallyfireproof.

Without limiting myself to the precise details of construction, Iclaim- 1. In car-construction, sills composed of channel-beams havingtheir flanges ofiset or marginally bent and face-plates secured to saidflanges, substantially as described.

2. In car construction, the combination, with sills composed ofchannel-beams presenting outwardly and having the margins of theirflanges an gularly bent or offset, of face-plates riveted or otherwisesecured to said flanges,

said face-plates being continuous around the corners of the car,substantially as described.

3. In car construction, the combination, with side sills composed offlanged metal beams, of transverse floor-beams composed of T-bars havingportions of the ends of their webs cut away and the bifurcations thereofembracing the side sills and secured to the side sills by bolts orrivets, substantially as described.

4. In car construction, the combination, with sills composed of flangedmetal beams, of tie-rods having their ends forked and secured with theside sills by being passed through the flanges thereof, substantially asdescribed.

5. In car construction, the combination, with the frame of the car, ofadraw-gear composed of metal beams disposed edgewise and having theirouter ends projecting beyond the ends of the car and bent to engage thedeadwood, substantially as described.

6. In car construction, the combination of a draw-gear composed of twometal plates separated toward theirforward ends to provide between thema spring-pocket and having their inner ends spread apart and connectedto the side sills, respectively, substantially as described.

7. In car construction, the combination of. a draw-gear composed ofmetal plates disposed edgewise and separated toward their forward endsto provide a spring-pocket and having their rear ends spread andconnected to the side sills and having their bodies twisted,substantially as described.

8. In car construction, the combination of a draw-gear composed ofplates vertically disposed, their forward ends being separated andparallel to each other and their rear ends spread and connected to theside sills, and diagonal bracing-rods interposed between the bodies ofthe draw-gear plates and the side sills, substantially as described.

9. In car construction, the combination,with the floor-frame, of adraw-gear composed of two metal plates, disposed edgewise, and atransverse floor-beam 40, having its middle portion recessed andprovided with shoulders to formside bearings for the draw-gear plates,substantially as described.

10. In car construction, the combination, with metallic side sills, ofcombined posts and carlings constructed integrally from tubes bent intoarched form, the legs of the arch forming two posts for opposite sidesof the car and the middle forming a carling, and the ends of the postsprojecting along the faces of the side sills and inturned beneath saidsills, substantially as described.

11. In car construction, the combination of the frame posts or uprightscomposed of metal tubes having their lower ends cut away to provide ascarf-joint with the side sill and their extremities inturned to engagethe lower edge of the side sill, substantially as described.

12. In car construction, frame-posts composed of metal tubes cut awaytoward their lower ends to provide one member of a scarfjoint and theremaining portion being provided with a core or filler of metal, theparts being fused together and the extremities of the posts inturned toengage the lower edge of the side sills, substantially as described.

13. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metaltubes, of an outer covering and an inner sheathing or lining for theside walls, composed of metal plates fluted to embrace the posts,substantially as described.

14:. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metaltubes, of longitudinal plates passing through apertures in said postsand keyed thereto, substantially as described. 7

15. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metaltubes, of plates connecting said tubes, and struts or braces secured attheir lower ends to the side sills and at their upper ends to saidplates, the joints being filled with Babbitt metal, substantially asdescribed.

ICC

IIC

16. In car construction, the combination, a

gated apertures in the plates," and a continuous strip 55, through whichthesecuring means alsopass, substantially as described.

17. In car construction, the combination, with posts composed of metaltubes, of an outer Wall covering and an interior sheathing fitted tosaid posts and an intermediate filling or lining of straw pulp orequivalent material, substantially as described.

18. In car construction, the combination, with posts and carlingscomposed of metal tubes bent into an arched form, of a tie-rod for theroof structure passing through the carlings and through interposedseparating or spacing tubes, substantially as described.

19. In car construction, the combination, with the side sills composedof metals beams, of body truss-rods, a bearing interposed be- STEPHEN A.JENNINGS.

Vitnesses:

FREDERICK G. GooDWIN, N. M. BOND.

